Carton



June 22, 1943. s, PRlQE 2,322,389

CARTON Filed Jan. 11. 1940 //v vnv 70/?" .5. PRICE zi fim Patented June22, 1943 urnrsn CARTON Stanley Price, La Grange, 111., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation ofNew York Application January 11, 19%, Serial No. 313,350

3 Ciaims.

This invention relates to cartons or containers for articles, andparticularly to means for locking the cover thereof in closed position.

In the packaging and handling of articles, for instance telephone sets,.the usual type of container or carton made from corrugated fibre board,card board or like materials, is used. The carton, after being packedand the cover closed is deposited on a conveyor line and carried to asealing and shipping platform. The cover, which is merely held byfriction in its closed position, frequently springs open due to thecontainer being jarred during its passage and ban-- dling on theconveyor line. At times, this results in the telephone set beingdisarranged in the container or dumped therefrom with probable damage tothe set. 7

An object of this invention is to overcome thes objectionable featuresin the packaging and handling of articles by providing in a container orcarton simple and practical means on the receptacle and cover thereofwhich automatically interengage and lock the cover to the receptacleduring the movement of the cover to its closed position.

In attaining this object, in one embodiment of the invention, the usualtype of one-piece card board container is provided having opposed setsof side walls, foldable closing flaps on one set of the side walls, acover extending frornone wall of the other set of side walls to theopposite side wall thereof folded over the closing flaps and a foldedtuck flap on the cover for entrance into the container between edges ofthe closing flaps and an inner surface of the latter side wall.Extending outwardly from each opposed edge of the tuck flap and fromeach of the adjacent edges of the closing flaps, adjacent the fold linethereof, are short shouldered portions or looking lugs whichautomatically interlock during the moving of the cover to its closedposition, thus preventing the cover from accidentally springing open.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood byreferring to the following specification and accompanying drawing, inwhich Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a container or carton embodyingthe invention shown with the cover and tuck flap thereof partly closed;

Fig. 2 is a plan view on a reduced scale of a blank ready to be foldedto produce the container illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the left hand forward corner of thecontainer as viewed in Fig. i 1 shown with the cover in a lockedposition;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view view of Fig.3 with thecover omitted and showing the relation'of the top closing flap carryingthe locking lug with the adjacent side wall.

, In the drawing, a simple form of one-piece container of foldedcardboard embodying the novel means of this invention for locking thecover in position from accidentally springing open is shown byway ofillustration. Referring now to Fig. 2, there is shown 'a blank II] whichmay be sheared or punched from cardboard or other suitable material, theblank being formed with a plurality of transverse creasing or foldinglines H and a plurality of longitudinal creasing or folding lines l2,3,1 1, i5, [6, ll, 58' and I9, indicated by broken lines, upon which theblank is folded to produce the container'shown in Fig. 1. The containerillustrated is of rectangular shape and, therefore, the blank Itcomprises a pair of side wall portions 22 and 23 and a pair of end wallportions 24. Extending from the end walls 2d are top and bottom sets ofclosing flaps 25 and 26, respectively. From the side walls 22 and 23extend half bottom wall portions 29 and from the r side wall 23 extendsa cover 33 provided With-a tuck flap 3i. Suitable clearance slots 32 areprovided throughout the blank It to 'permit freely folding the top andbottom closing flaps 25 and 26, bottom walls 29 and the cover ill-intoassembled relation.

As viewed in Fig. 2 the inner opposed edges of the top closing flaps 25'and the upper edge of the side wall 22 at their junction pointsareprovided with outwardly extending short shouldered portions or lookinglugs 33. Also formed upon the opposite edges of the tuck flap 31adjacent the fold line l9 thereof are outwardly extending shortshouldered portions or looking lugs 34, the outer vertical edges ofwhich extend in the form of rounded corners 35 into the upper edge ofthe tuck flap.

The container is formed by folding the blank ll! in a forward direction,as viewed in Fig. 2, first along the vertical fold lines II to bring thefree outer sheared edges of the end Wall 24 and the side wall 23together at right angles whereupon they may be secured by gluing a stripof fabric or paper (not shown) to the adjacent surfaces.

Thereafter the bottom closing flaps 25 are folded inwardly along thefold lines l5 and I! and then the half bottom walls 29 are foldedinwardly along the fold lines l6 and IS. The bottom walls 29 may besecured together in a manner similar to that of the side and end walls23 and 24, previously described.

Upon the container being packed, it is closed by first folding inwardlyalong the fold lines l2 and I3 the top closing flaps 2'5 (Fig. 5). Infolding inwardly the top closing flaps the outwardly extending lockinglugs 33 move therewith and assume the position shown in Fig. 5 arrangedsubstantially parallel to the side wall 22 with their outer edgeportions extending over and abutting the'upper edge of the side wall 22.

Thereafter the cover 30, having the tuck flap 3i previously folded alongthefold line [9 so that it will enter into the container between theparallel edges of the top closing flaps 25 and the inner surface of theside wall 22 (Figs. 1 and 3) is folded along the fold line 14 and overthe top closing flaps. As shown in Fig. l the cover 38 is partly closed,the tuck flap 3| being entered between the inner surface of the sidewall 22 and the aligned edges of the top closing flaps 25. Upon merelypressing the cover completely into closed position, as shown in Figs. 3and 4, the outwardly extending locking lugs 34 upon the tuck flap 3|,guided by the rounded corners 35 of the tuck flap, move below thelocking lugs 33 and then spring under the same, as clearly shown in Fig.4, into interlocked relation. The locking lugs 33 are drawn inwardlyfrom the position shown in Fig. 5 and pressed into position within theinner surface of the side wall 22 (Fig. 3) thus producing a tight fit atthe corner. Thus the tuck flap 3| carried by the cover 3!] issufliciently locked to the closing flaps 25 to prevent the cover fromaccidentally springing open during handling of the container and beforeit is sealed for shipment. This locking action is effected by simplymoving the cover into closed position over the closing flaps, no othermanipulation of the various elements forming the container beingnecessary.

In certain types of containers, a single looking lug 33 on one of theclosing flaps 25 and. a single locking lug 34 coacting therewith. on oneend of the tuck flap 31 will be found sufiicient to retain the cover 30in closed position.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that simple andeconomical means is provided on a container for retaining the containercover and its tuck flap in interlocked closed re lation with thecontainer closing flaps'by simply pressing the cover into closedposition.

While the features of this invention have been disclosed in a specificcarton or container structure, it is, of course, understood that it maybe applied to other types of containers and that modifications may bemade without departing l-Li from the scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a container, a foldable closing flap having a lug-like projectionextending from the juncture of an edge and the fold line of the flap,and a cover having a foldable tuck flap, said tuck flap having alug-like projection extending from the end of the tuck flap adjacentsaid firstnamed lug-like projection, said lug-like projection on saidtuck flap having an edge extending perpendicular from an edge of andspaced from the fold line of the tuck flap for interlocking engagementunder said lug-like projection on said closing flap in the closing ofthe container, an edge of said tuck flap presenting a camming surfacefrom the outer edge of said lug-like project-on to the free longitudinaledge of said tuck flap.

2. In a container having opposed sets of side walls and opposed foldableclosing flaps connected to one set of said side walls, said closingflaps each having a lug-like projection extending from the junctures ofopposite edges and the fold line of the flap, and a cover having afolclable tuck flap extending from one wall of said other set of sidewalls to the opposite side wall thereof and foldable over said closingflaps, said tuck flap having lug-like projections having edges extendingperpendicular from opposite edges of and spaced from the fold line ofthe tuck flap for interlocking engagement under said lug-likeprojections on said closing flaps in the closing of the container, anedge of said tuck flap presenting a camming surface between the outeredge of the lug-like projection and the free longitudinal edge of thetuck flap. I

3. A container comprising side walls, closing flaps attached to twoopposing walls, said closing flaps being atleast as wide as the walls towhich they are attached at the base of the flaps, the remainder of theflaps being narrower than the side walls to form locking lugs at saidbase, a cover attached to an intermediate Wall and being narrower thansaid wall, and a tuck flap attached to said cover along a fold line andbeing of the same width as said cover at the point 'of attachment andfor a distance outwardly equal to at least the thickness of said walls,the tuck flap being abruptly extended beyond this narrow portion to forma lug to interlock with the locking lugs on said closing flaps when thecontainer is closed, an edge of said tuck flap presenting a cammingsurface from the outer edge of said lug-like projection toward the freelongitudinal edge of said tuck flap.

STANLEY PRICE.

